No, Joe Pavelski, Dan Boyle and Patrick Marleau would not normally be front and center on the marauder’s row of NHL mayhem-making and score-settling.

But during the Sharks’ Game 2 loss in St. Louis on Saturday, these three headliners were right in the middle of almost everything.

Elbows, fists and nyah-nyah-nyahs.

Let’s be blunt: For a team occasionally lacking in displays of postseason passion, getting some thump out of those three was probably a solid sign for the Sharks’ immediate and long-term playoff future.

They lost the game and probably most of the fights, but the Sharks’ top dogs showed some high-level Stanley Cup antagonism.

They come home tied 1-1, and they weren’t exactly apologizing for any of the edginess heading into Monday’s Game 3 at HP Pavilion.

Is this the franchise’s missing Stanley Cup link?

“You try to be disciplined and hopefully they notice the first couple punches,” Marleau said a little sheepishly after Sunday’s practice. “But I took a couple before that.

“I wasn’t going to sit there and take another one.”

That’s why Marleau said he took a solid right-hand pop at Blues winger B.J. Crombeen in the second period, drawing a two-minute penalty.

That came moments after Pavelski dropped the gloves with Blues defenseman Kris Russell, only the third fight of Pavelski’s NHL career.

And a period later, Boyle got into a hearty scrum with forward Alexander Steen, just part of lengthy set of flare-ups in the game’s final moments.

Captain Joe Thornton, meanwhile, has been edgy for the past few weeks, right on through to Game 2.

“Pavs only fights in the playoffs, I think,” regular brawler Ryane Clowe said with a grin. “That’s good. He’s a competitive guy and so is Boiler.

Now, there’s no guarantee the fisticuffs will carry over into Game 3 and turn the rest of the series into a three-ring mini-riot.

This isn’t the Penguins vs. Flyers, thank goodness.

But nobody has to wonder if the Sharks’ top guys are fully invested in the goings-on.

“When they’re involved like that, they’re showing their teammates that they’re there to play,” coach Todd McLellan said of his lead players. “They’re competitive people and those competitive juices come out. And when those top players are involved like that, everybody else has to fall into line.”

That translates well to Games 3 and 4 at raucous HP Pavilion — games the Sharks probably need to sweep.

And with the talent assembled on this team, a spike in the energy and anger levels could be decisive.

“Those things are good — brings the team closer together and guys stick up for each other and you need that,” Boyle said of in-game altercations. “But the most important thing is for us to win hockey games. As far as playing with an edge, it’s playoffs. Everything’s more intense, everybody’s more excited and you’ve just got to play with that adrenaline.”

The key, of course, is for the Sharks to amp up without dumbing down. They can’t be stupid, take cheap shots, get out of control and pretend to be something they’re not.

But, as opposed to moments in their past, the Sharks also have to make sure they don’t shoved from key spots on the ice … and don’t get beaten to the punch.

“You don’t want your top guys in the penalty box all night,” McLellan said. “But they also have to stand their ground. They have to compete.

“And our guys did that. Their team did that. It’s a scrappy time of year.”

The scrappy Sharks? With hard-edged stars?

It will take some getting used to, for the Sharks themselves, and most importantly, for their playoff opponents.

“You want to battle and you want to compete and that’s one aspect that can happen,” Marleau said. “But we need to win games. We like all that stuff, but we still have to focus on the end goal of winning games.”

That’s the playoff point, though: With as much top-end talent as they’ve got in this roster, the edgier the Sharks get, the more they will probably win.